Judges:11

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* Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor , but he was the son of a harlot ; and Gilead begot Jephthah . * Gilead 's wife bore sons ; and when his wife 's sons grew up , they drove Jephthah out , and said to him , "You shall have no inheritance in our father 's house , for you are the son of another woman ." * Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob ; and worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him . * It came to pass after a time that the people of Ammon made war against Israel . * And so it was , when the people of Ammon made war against Israel , that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob . * Then they said to Jephthah , "Come and be our commander , that we may fight against the people of Ammon ." * So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead , "Did you not hate me , and expel me from my father 's house ? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress ?" * And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah , "That is why we have turned again to you now , that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon , and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead ." * So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead , "If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon , and the LORD delivers them to me , shall I be your head ?" * And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah , "The LORD will be a witness between us , if we do not do according to your words ." * Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead , and the people made him head and commander over them ; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpah . * Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon , saying , "What do you have against me , that you have come to fight against me in my land ?" * And the king of the people of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah , "Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt , from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok , and to the Jordan . Now therefore , restore those lands peaceably ." * So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon , * and said to him , "Thus says Jephthah : "Israel did not take away the land of Moab , nor the land of the people of Ammon ; * for when Israel came up from Egypt , they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and came to Kadesh . * Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom , saying , "Please let me pass through your land ." But the king of Edom would not heed . And in like manner they sent to the king of Moab , but he would not consent . So Israel remained in Kadesh . * And they went along through the wilderness and bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab , came to the east side of the land of Moab , and encamped on the other side of the Arnon . But they did not enter the border of Moab , for the Arnon was the border of Moab . * Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites , king of Heshbon ; and Israel said to him , "Please let us pass through your land into our place ." * But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory . So Sihon gathered all his people together , encamped in Jahaz , and fought against Israel . * And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel , and they defeated them . Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites , who inhabited that country . * They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites , from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan . * "And now the LORD God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel ; should you then possess it ? * Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to possess ? So whatever the LORD our God takes possession of before us , we will possess . * And now , are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor , king of Moab ? Did he ever strive against Israel ? Did he ever fight against them ? * While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its villages , in Aroer and its villages , and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon , for three hundred years , why did you not recover them within that time ? * Therefore I have not sinned against you , but you wronged me by fighting against me . May the LORD , the Judge , render judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon ."' * However , the king of the people of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah sent him . * Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah , and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh , and passed through Mizpah of Gilead ; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon . * And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD , and said , "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands , * then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me , when I return in peace from the people of Ammon , shall surely be the LORD 's , and I will offer it up as a burnt offering ." * So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them , and the LORD delivered them into his hands . * And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith--twenty cities--and to Abel Keramim , with a very great slaughter . Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel . * When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah , there was his daughter , coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing ; and she was his only child . Besides her he had neither son nor daughter . * And it came to pass , when he saw her , that he tore his clothes , and said , "Alas , my daughter ! You have brought me very low ! You are among those who trouble me ! For I have given my word to the LORD , and I cannot go back on it ." * So she said to him , "My father , if you have given your word to the LORD , do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth , because the LORD has avenged you of your enemies , the people of Ammon ." * Then she said to her father , "Let this thing be done for me : let me alone for two months , that I may go and wander on the mountains and bewail my virginity , my friends and I ." * So he said , "Go ." And he sent her away for two months ; and she went with her friends , and bewailed her virginity on the mountains . * And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father , and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed . She knew no man . And it became a custom in Israel * that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite .

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